Growing Foreign Presence In China's Pharma Industry

by Jiang Song of Beijing Cons Bio-Tech

The growth of China's pharmaceutical industry has been phenomenal in the last decade. In the 1990s, the total sales of this industry have been growing at a pace of 30% to reach $10.6 billion in 1996.

The pharmaceutical industry was one of the first sectors to open up to foreign investors in China. Since 1980, when the first Sino-foreign pharmaceutical joint venture was set up, direct foreign investments have been pouring into the pharmaceutical industry.